In an admittedly non-scientific study of the wealthiest 400 Americans, Forbes reports that a “significant percentage of them had parents with a high aptitude for math.”
“The ability to crunch numbers is typically a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.”
My dad has a graduate degree in math and taught college-level math. I won’t complain if the trend continues and I end up with a billion dollars.
Seriously, I never thought that math would make me rich. And it hasn’t yet, at least not enough to be part of the Forbes study (only a billion more and it will!).
But somehow I always knew it would open doors.
And it has. I was able to receive a graduate engineering degree from a good university because of math. I believe a big reason I was accepted into a good law school is because of math. I use math every day in my business and in countless other ways.
I don’t know if it was nature or nurture. Probably a combination of the two. But I think it’s fair to say my love for math has affected my life more than anything other than the Three F’s, family, friends, and faith.
It’s important for all parents to help their kids develop a love for math. And if not a love, then at least a working knowledge and an appreciation.
They won’t become billionaires, but they will find more doors opened for them. They might not become rich, but they will avoid the anxiety that many people feel every time they are asked to do a math problem. They might not become a successful entrepreneur, but they will avoid the easy (and sometimes costly) mistakes made by the math illiterate.
What a great article! As a retired Math teacher, I found that many secondary students had learned a fear of math from their elementary school years. If elementary teachers are not instilling a love of math parents need to step in a show kids how much fun math can be. You can not leave the education of your child up to the school system, be it public or private. The school is only as good as the teacher in the room with your child.
I couldn’t agree more Susan! There are people that have the ability to succeed in math, but they learn to dislike it early in life and they never recover. It gets even more sad if they pass a lifelong math aversion on to their kids.
Math has opened more doors for me than I ever imagined. I hope to pass my love for math on to my kids so they may benefit from it as well.
It is amazing how true this is. If you look at the American Icons like Rockefeller or local business success stories there seems to always be a basic fundamental that is consistent with all them. It is the respect the numbers ($’s) and understanding how they work.
It doesn’t even require high-end math, just a basic understanding of addition, subtraction, muliplication and division.
This could easily be translated as Product Cost times Quantity = Fixed Expenses, Quantity times Retail Price = Gross Revenues, Gross Revenues less Expenses = Net Income, Net Income / Investment = Rate of Return.
At the end of the day people can lie but numbers do not.
I agree I was in Walmart the other day and I saw eggs were $0.94 for a dozen and $1.93 for 18. What amazed me is that half of the people bought the 18 pack. I went over to look at the eggs. They had the same 6 weeks out expiration date the same size large, and were even from the same farm. I asked myself. Would I want one of those people buying 2-18 packs working for me? Further I thought how much more does it cost for someone like that to even survive?